The best win I've seen in a long time...

Just gotta brag on my kid here. He's 10, and his U12 soccer league was winding down the season with a double header yesterday (it was a Sunday).

He plays in a rec league, not real serious, they don't travel much, and when they do it's just to a different local field. It's his 3rd season, 3rd coach, 3rd set of different teammates, etc. They started the year off in not very good fashion. Lost several games, practices kept getting rained out. But the coach and the kids kept having fun, and weathered it pretty good. The weather got better, started having make up practices, and the team came together and started playing together well and competing, and winning a lot more than losing.

Well, they played this one team before getting things together that had obviously been together for a while, coached by the same guy that knew his stuff, and they were good. The first game against them was back in September and my son's team just got plain drilled. Something like 15-1. The 2nd game in our doubleheader Sunday was a rematch, and the kids wanted revenge in the worst way.

First game came, my son's team won 4-1. Then we had an end of year of party. Pizza, candy, cupcakes, cookies, soda. Perfect meal before the 2nd game! I was trying to start a betting pool as to which kid would puke first in the 2nd game. Turned out nobody did though.

So we get to the game site for the 2nd game. The sun is going down, the field lights have come on. And it hits me. Night game. Cold weather. So I blast the intro to Enter Sandman pulling into the parking lot. My son is amped. Some of the other kids on our team are in the parking lot and they get amped too.

They practice a bit, then the game starts. And the kids are just frigging amped. Usually, they sit on the bench when not playing. Not this time. The ones playing are sprinting everywhere. I've not seen them charge like that consistently through a whole game. The ones on the sideline are up, standing jumping up and down and cheering their teammates. They didn't do this in the prior game that day. And of course the parents are all on their feet hooting and hollering the entire time. We all know this team just embaressed us last time.

It's obvious from the first kickoff this time is different. The other team is charging and hustling just as hard as last time, and playing like a well oiled machine just like last time. Except our team is matching them evenly. High energy is building.

Then, oops, one of our kids gets out of position, makes a mistake defending, and the other team scores. Ugh, down 0-1. No biggie. Then the other team has this kid that just makes this incredible kick, and down 0-2. Well, at least, we're doing better. It's almost 1/2 time and last time we were down 0-10 or something ridiculous. Then, right before 1/2 time is called, boom, we get a score. Got in at 1/2 time down by 1-2. I'm thinking, okay, this is doable.

They come out to start the 2nd half and quickly tie it up. 2-2. At this point, the kids and parents are all going berserk on both sides. This intensity of both sides gets turned up even more. Both sides are playing like it's the super bowl.

Then ugh, we're down 2-3. Then it has probably the longest back and forth I've seen in a youth soccer game without a stop for an out of bounds. Hordes of shots by both sides, the goalies block everything, the kids sprint and hustle all over. It was pretty neat. And it ends with our team tying it up 3-3. There's only like 2-3 minutes left. It's late, the other team's coach is starting to really get on his team. He's obviously agitated.

They kickoff, and the kids are getting even more amped up. It's the loudest I've ever heard a little league game get. There aren't any rude idiots, it's all respectful, the kids are charging at the each other, but there's nobody getting chippy, no cheap shots, just hard playing, kids banging into each other going for the ball but not trying to take each other out.

It's getting to where there's gotta be less than a minute left. My son is a midfielder, and he's in, running up and down the field. He's not the best shooter, but he's good at getting in there, disrupting whatever they're doing, and passing the ball back out to a teammate. He gets in on their guy with the ball, they slam into each other, but my son gets a good foot on the ball and gets it away from the other kid as they both end up on the ground. Incidentally, the ref's were letting them get away with a lot of stuff on both sides. I guess they were calling it based on intentions and not results!

Anyway, our best shooter gets control of the ball, manages to juke past several defenders, passes it over to a guy we've got open, he shoots, and he scores! Our side completely loses it. I was at the 2011 VT-Miami game where the stadium was just plain nuts, and we're obviously a smaller crowd, but those there were that nuts. 5 seconds after the next kickoff, the ref blows the whistle and the game is over. We win 4-3. The kids all mob each other, pile up, etc. The opposing coach is kind of ribbing his guys for getting beat. I felt bad for them. Didn't think they deserved that. Both sides played their hearts out.

So anyway, to me it was the biggest game of the weekend, and the right team won. My son can be a real slacker and goofball most of the time, but I have to admit, that was one of the moments I've been proudest of him. I wasn't expecting the whole team to suddenly turn into Manchester United, but for some reason, the sun went down, the lights came on, and they turned up the wick as a team. I've never seen him actually charge and hustle like that before, but my son played his nuts off!

I guess after that I can't say it bothers me all that much that the Hokies are losing. It definitely took away the sting and then some.